Comedian Jack Dee and former England cricketer Matt Prior are two of the more high-profile iPhone users targeted in the scam.

Dee posted a screenshot of the message with a typically sardonic comment - ‘Yeah right. Here are my bank details...’ - while Prior asked Apple Support to confirm the message was a scam.

Apple Support replied to Prior confirming the text ‘isn’t a message we would send out,’ adding a link to help Apple consumers report spam texts and possible scams.

The scam, believed to be an attempt to trick people into giving up their iCloud login details and potentially allowing access to personal photos, sensitive documents and private emails, comes barely a week after people in the UK were warned about another phone-based scam that could end up costing consumers hundreds of pounds.

People who have received the iCloud spam text are encouraged to screenshot the message and report it to Apple.

A statement from Apple said: “The iTunes Store will never ask you to provide personal information or sensitive account information (such as passwords or credit card numbers) via email.

“Email messages that contain attachments or links to non-Apple websites are from sources other than Apple, although they may appear to be from the iTunes Store.

“Most often, these attachments are malicious and should not be opened.

“You should never enter your Apple account information on any non-Apple website.”